%T British anarchism 1881-1914: reality and appearance
%X This thesis examines the history of British anarchism
in the late Victorian and Edwardian era against the background
of the movement's popular image.
The prevalent image of anarchism assumed the individual
to be an unscrupulous criminal and the movement to be
a conspiracy intent on unleashing revolutionary violence
upon the world. Such a description imparted little of the
authentic pursuits and beliefs of British anarchism and
proved to be one of the major obstacles even to a partial
understanding of the movement. However, it was precisely
through this image that anarchism penetrated the social
consciousness and exerted its most noticeable impact on
society.
In this light, the thesis is divided into two parts:
the first discusses the reality of British anarchism and
the second its image. Part one consists of three chapters.
Chapter one chronicles the various streams and groupings
that made up the British anarchist movement. The second
chapter details some of the social and ideological marks
that characterised the movement while the third studies
the interrelationships between anarchism and the wider
socialist movement.
Part two consists of three chapters. The first two
depict the image as it appeared in the press and the literature
of the time. The concluding chapter indicates some
of the practical implications of the image as reflected
through the treatment of anarchists by state organs and
the public at large; the use that was made of it as a
political weapon against other causes, and the political
debates it generated.
%D 1981
%I University of London
%O Thesis digitised by British Library EThOS
%A H. Shpayer
%L discovery1317725